Overview
This is an exciting time in gravitational-wave astronomy! LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA just finished their fourth observing run (O4). Data from the past three observing runs (O1, O2, and O3) and the beginning of O4 (O4a) are publicly available, and include over 200 detections of compact object mergers. And the list continues to grow as more confirmed detections are added.
After you enroll, you will receive a crash-course in gravitational-wave (GW) data analysis. By the end of this course, you should be able to:
- Describe the basics of how LIGO and Virgo record data
- Find and download LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA data
- Make plots of real data and simulated waveforms
- Use matched filtering to identify transient signals in LIGO/Virgo data
- Use parameter estimation to extract astrophysical information from transient signals
This course includes lectures, software tutorials, quiz questions, and a data challenge. Complete the course and data challenge to receive a certificate.
Lecture Schedule
Monday, April 20th
- 2PM CEST: Introduction to Gravitational waves (45mn)
- 3PM CEST: Accessing Open Data (30mn)
- 4PM CEST: Signal Processing (45mn)
Tuesday, April 21st
- 2PM CEST: CBC Science (45mn)
- 3PM CEST: DetChar (30mn)
- 4PM CEST: CBC Searches (45mn)
Wednesday, April 22nd
- 2PM CEST: Parameter Estimation (45mn)
- 3PM CEST: Introduction to hierarchical inference (30mn)
- 4PM CEST: Challenges in future detectors 3G/LISA (30mn)
Tutorials
This workshop uses software tutorials to introduce practical GW data analysis. You will work on the tutorial during hands-on mentoring sessions with local experts.
Please be aware that the tutorials will be under some development before the start of the workshop, so they are subject to change.
These tutorials will be used during the hands-in sessions and are needed to answer the quiz on Thinkific.
- You'll need a computer and internet connection. Any operating system will do.
- Tutorials may be run locally on your computer, or online in the browser.
- Some previous experience with the Python language is recommended.
Visit the software tutorial repo page and setup instructions page to learn how to run them.
Optional: Introductory Tutorials
If you're new to python or signal processing, you may wish to explore some introductory material in advance of the workshop:
Get help!
If you still have questions you can post them in the discussion forum at ask.igwn.org.
